Local News Headlines–5/7/2013

If you are an Atmos Energy customer and have automatic payments made through your bank, keep an eye on your account balance. The Atmos Energy Facebook page has confirmed overcharging customer accounts. Atmos customers have posted they’ve had ten times their bill being drafted from their bank accounts since the weekend. Atmos spokeswoman Jennifer Ryan says 27,000 customers were affected. Ryan says they don’t know what caused the billing error but they don’t believe their system was hacked. The Atmos Facebook page says they’ll reverse the charges, including overdraft fees, within one to three days.

Two crashes in the twin cities yesterday afternoon affected traffic. The southbound lanes of Highway 47 between Leonard Road and Villa Maria were closed after a dump truck failed to yield the right of way and struck an S-U-V, causing the S-U-V to roll over and catch fire. Bryan Police say the driver of the S-U-V received injuries not believed to be life threatening. And, in College Station, the intersection of Rock Prairie and Rio Grande was closed for more than two hours after a car turned into the path of a motorcycle. Police report the man and woman on the motorcycle were taken to College Station Medical Center. The driver and two passengers in the car were not hurt. No names have been released from the noon hour wreck in front of Brian Bachmann Park.

For the second time in three days, Atmos Energy crews repaired a punctured natural gas line. Yesterday afternoon they were sent to the A&M west campus near the Rosenthal Center where university officials say a small line was hit. 30 minutes later, the decision was made to evacuate the Borlaug Center and move those people to the Horticulture and Forest Science building. Students, faculty, and staff were allowed to re-enter about two hours later.

And, for the second time, Blinn College administrator Ted Raspiller is leaving for a position in Virginia. Doctor Raspiller, who returned to Blinn to become President of the Brazos County campuses, has been hired as the next President of the John Tyler Community College campuses in Chester and Midlothian, Virginia. A onetime dean at Blinn, Raspiller was a department head at Old Dominion University before returning to Blinn in 2010. He will start his new job in July. Blinn officials say a job posting to begin a national search will be done within the next two weeks.